MAN, 22, GETS LIFE FOR MURDER

A 22-year-old Odenton man has been sentenced to life in prison for his role in the August 1988 drug-related murder of a Severn man.

Christopher Anthony Lee on Friday became the second man sentenced for arole in the Aug. 21, 1988, shooting death of Richard Oneil Grisby.

Olu Basil Carter, 19, of Severn, was sentenced in August 1990 to 30 years in prison after being convicted of second-degree murder in Grisby's death.

Grisby, 26, of Severn, was found dead with two gunshot wounds to the back of his head on a wooded pathway connecting Lake Village and Meade Village. Testimony showed the death was related to a dispute over stolen drugs.

After a jury convicted Lee, prosecutor Eugene M. Whissel II said no direct evidence determined which of the two men shot Grisby.

"It's very possible they both shot him," he said.

To establish the cases against the two men, Whissel called witnesses who said the men left an apartment with Grisby and returned without the victim. However, he added, Carter returned with a bullet in his leg.

Witnesses also testified that the two bought a .22-caliber handgun the day before the slaying.

Lee has been describedas a part-time disc jockey and rap singer who worked full time as a security guard. But prosecutor Eugene M. Whissel II said those job titles were merely a cover for Lee's real occupation, which was peddling drugs. Lee told police he was unemployed when he was arrested in September 1990.

Lee's case was repeatedly delayed during his quest to find suitable legal representation. In the end, Lee settled on R. Kenneth Mundy, a renowned Washington attorney whose clients have included former Washington Mayor Marion Barry.

After Lee was convicted three months ago, Judge Lawrence H. Rushworth revoked the man's $30,000 bond and ordered him to be jailed pending sentencing. Rushworth also sentenced Lee yesterday to 20 years for a handgun violation, but suspended 15 years of that sentence and ordered it to be served concurrently with the life term.